Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I read both of the articles below and came to one conclusion. I agree with Kapp's analysis. Kapp said it best when he responded "We need to take pieces from each school of thought and apply it effectively because…Cognitivism doesn’t explain 100% how humans process information and neither does Constructivism or Behaviorism. What we need to is take the best from each philosophy and use it wisely to create solid educational experiences for our learners."(Kapp, 2007)

We cannot bubble education and think that what works for one works for all. I have learned in the past that all students learn differently. I have students with learning disabilities that must be almost hand fed the information. I have found that they can however show me a finished product and do it well when they are hands on with the material. Students that grasp the information more quickly can express themselves both through testing and projects. Students on a higher level can be expressive in all three ways and beyond.

Therefore, pieces from each concept need to be adopted in order for teachers to ensure that they are reaching every child. According to Kapp, "The issue many forget is that “learning” is not one thing…it is a multi-layered word that tends to get treated as if it were just one thing…and it’s not. It is multi-facetted and that is why developing new models for “learning” is so difficult…there are too many levels for one school of thought or one model to do it all."(Kapp, 2007)

I agree with this response wholeheartedly. With education always changing, we have to realize that we have to change as well. In the field of technology, learning changes everyday and it is up to us as educators to instill this into our students and also recognize that we have to find different routes in order to do so.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

It has always been my belief that people learn best by doing. If you see the actual product then you can relate it to the learning that has taken place. If you participate in the actual lesson then you can also see the outcome come to fruition in before your eyes. The more I teach the more I see that gives have to hear it, see it and do it in order to learn.

The critical elements of learning theories are observation, interpreting, evaluating, interaction, analyzing, problem solving and solutions.While Driscoll discusses these elements in detail, Siemens is more interested in how, when and why learning occurs.

There are many roles that the educator can take on. I believe that an educator has to wear many hats in order to provide a better learning experience. " Each educator is set in a role that promotes learning through various methods of understanding. The educator as a master artist permits students to work in a setting that inspires creativity and open mindedness. This allows their ideas to flow unrestricted. The educator as a network administrator enables students to build networks of communication with each other. For an educator as a concierge they guide students to find the resources needed to build on their learning experience, similar to the educator as a curator." This educator "fosters and encourages learner exploration"(Siemens, 2008). I feel as though I am a network administrator of sorts.I guide students to the information that will help them with understanding of the lessons. I am in some cases one of all of these because as an educator one must differentiate instruction to keep learning ongoing.

References:

Driscoll, M. P.(2005) Psychology of Learning for Instruction (3rd ed.) Boston.Pearson Education, Inc.Siemens, C.(2008)Learning and Knowing in Networks;Changing roles for Educators and DesignersToney, T.(2011) How do people learn best? www.toneyt.blogspot.com